The Adaptive Brain
In his terrific book, The Brain , David Eagleman writes: “Your senses set boundaries on what you can experience… But what if the brain could understand new kinds of inputs?” New inputs would come from accessories that we attach on or implant to our bodies. Yes, like a cyborg. Whenever I’ve thought of this idea, I’ve felt the problem is that: 1) We don’t yet understand how the brain works; 2) And without knowing that, how would we know the “format” in which the input signals from the new sources/sensors/implants should be sent to the brain? But it looks like there’s a way around that, by using this ability of the brain: “(The brain) rewires itself to adjust to the inputs… It’s this property of the brain – its plasticity – that enables a new marriage between our technology and our biology.” Ok, how far can that ability of the brain take us? “Would the brain be able to understand crude, non-biological signals, ...